


Don't Be A Hero [Defenders College!AU]

by Rachel_Gramman



Category: Daredevil (Marvel) - Fandom, Iron Fist (Marvel) - Fandom, Jessica Jones (Marvel), Luke Cage (Marvel) - Fandom, The Defenders (Marvel)
Genre: "watch out I'm blind Matt Murdock", (im trying), (no I'm kidding please don't I'm actually really weak), Jessica is pissed, Matt has orange hair bitch, Matt is a certified idiot, So. Many., but he's their idiot, but then again what else is new, claire starring as the sassy nurse, danny is such a puppy, don't look at Foggy he's just here to make sure Matt doesn't get himself killed, fucking fight me, jokes that aren't funny, just a bunch of idiots having a good time, karen is completely done with this shit, luke is also done with this shit but less harshly, seriously it's actually ridiculous, so good, so many blind puns, so pure
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-16
Updated: 2018-08-16
Packaged: 2019-06-28 10:17:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15705228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rachel_Gramman/pseuds/Rachel_Gramman
Summary: "What did I tell you?""I don't know, I just kind of stopped listening after 'Matt'.""That was the very first thing I said.""Yeah."Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Danny Rand are settling into the college lifestyle - or, at the very least, they're trying to. Being a part time superhero takes up a surprising amount of time, and between fighting crime and scrambling to finish the projects they've been assigned, they really don't have time to deal with any more problems.Unfortunately, Life is a bitch, and a new kid has joined the campus - which normally wouldn't be such a big deal, except for the fact that he's quite obviously hiding something, and they're the only ones capable of figuring it out.Curiosity may have killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> wow I have too much time on my hands 
> 
>  
> 
> This is my first attempt at writing a Defenders fan fiction, so please don't hunt me down if I get something wrong

"Hey," Danny Rand greeted, plopping himself down next to her. "I got you coffee."

"I don't like coffee," Jessica Jones responded immediately, without even looking up from her computer. Her fingers tapped away at the keyboard quickly. "Give it to Luke."

"It's half whisky." Danny smiled as Jessica stopped typing for a second, fingers hovering above the keys. "Still want me to give it to Luke?"

"Asshole," Jessica grumbled. She took the cup anyways and chugged it.

Danny leaned over. "What are you working on?"

"A stupid essay for Professor Xavier's class," she muttered, putting the cup down on the bench and cracking her knuckles. "Like, _really_ stupid. Who even cares about the human mind?"

"You're the one who took psychology," Danny pointed out, as she started typing again. "Nobody forced you to."

"My mind did," Jessica grunted. "And now I have to write a stupid essay about it."

"Right." Danny stared off into the distance. The bench they were sitting on was right across from the football field, where Luke was playing football with a couple of other guys. Danny squinted at the man holding the ball. "Is that Steve Rogers?"

Jessica glanced up. "Yup. And there's Goldilocks."

He followed her gaze to Thor Odinson, who was sprinting down the field after Luke. His long, blonde hair billowed behind him in the wind.

"God, that guy has muscles," Danny mused. "He could probably bench-press me."

"You got that right," Jessica snorted, eyes glued to the screen once again. "The guy is _inhuman_. He could probably bench-press a jeep."

"So can you," Danny added.

Jessica shot him a warning glance.

"What?" He spread his arms as she scoffed. "Nobody's around! And besides, it's not like I outright said, 'Hey, since you're secretly a superhero and have superpowers, you can probably bench more than the school's quarterback!'"

"Well, now you did," Jessica huffed and punched him in the arm. "Idiot."

"Okay, I deserved that." Danny rubbed his arm where Jessica's stone fist had hit. "But are we seriously just never going to talk about our... you know."

"Secret double lives as crime fighters?" Jessica asked dryly. "No. Why should we?"

"Um, because it's awesome?" Danny said incredulously. "And we literally all fight _crime_ together at night. How is that not something you wanna talk about?"

"I dunno, getting caught and having everyone in the world know that we have supernatural powers isn't exactly on my bucket list." Jessica mock-pouted. "Sorry."

"Well, when you put it like that..." Danny trailed off and peered over at the field. "Looks like they're done."

Sure enough, the group of boys had dispersed, calling out their goodbyes as they walked off in groups of twos and threes. Luke, who had apparently spotted them, made a beeline for the bleachers.

"Hey," he breathed, tugging on his yellow hoodie. "What's up?"

Danny opened to his mouth, but Jessica interrupted. "I swear, if you say 'the sky' one more goddamn time, they'll never find your body."

Danny slowly closed his mouth, looking somewhat terrified.

Luke chuckled. "Point made. You doing homework?"

Jessica only groaned frustratedly and banged her head with her fist.

"I'll take that as a yes," Luke said, and sat down on her other side. "Hey, by the way... what's going on with Natasha and Clint?"

Jessica stopped hitting her head and shot him a suspicious look. "Why do you wanna know?"

"I heard rumours," Luke shrugged. "I'm curious. Sue me."

"Wait a minute." Danny made a 'time-out' symbol with his hands. "Isn't Clint dating Laura?"

"Yeah, and he's only dating Laura," Jessica _said_ emphatically, sending Luke a pointed look. "He and Natasha are _friends_ , doofus. It _is_ possible for two people of the opposite sex to be friends, you know."

"I didn't think Natasha even _had_ friends," Danny murmured to Luke, who shrugged again. "She is one scary woman."

"Fair assumption," Jessica conceded. "But wrong nonetheless. She's actually been hanging around with Rogers and that girl, Karen Page, recently."

"Page?" Danny frowned. "The blonde? Seriously?"

Jessica nodded. "Seriously."

"That's that girl that dated what's-his-name, right?" Luke questioned, leaning forwards. "Muddy, or something?"

"Foggy," Jessica corrected.

Luke grimaced. "And he lets people call him that?"

"Yeah, don't even ask me _what_ the hell his parents were thinking."

"How do you even know all of this?" Danny asked, narrowing his eyebrows.

Jessica waved a dismissive hand. "I make it my job to know."

"It kind of _is_ your job to know," Luke said. "You're a P.I, sort of."

"You'd be surprised how much people are willing to pay to find out their partner is cheating on them," Jessica said flippantly. "Besides, it's fun. I know basically everything—for example, it's come to my attention that there's a new student coming in next week."

"A new student?" Danny echoed, frowning. "In the middle of the year? That's..."

"Weird," Luke finished. "Is he from out of town or something?"

"As far as I can tell, no." Jessica closed her laptop and tucked it away in her bag. "I don't actually know much about this guy."

"That's weirder," Danny commented. "Do you at least have a name?"

"Yeah, actually." Jessica leaned forwards and lowered her voice. "His name is Matt Murdock. His dad was a boxer, and he died twenty-something years ago, when Murdock was just a kid. After that, Murdock just... disappeared. There's been no trace of him until now."

"That's shady as hell," Luke murmured. Danny made a noise of agreement.

Jessica nodded. "I've checked everywhere—there's no file on this guy, _nothing_ to explain where he's been for the past two decades. He's hiding something, and I want to know what."

"Well, you've certainly peaked my interest," Danny told her. "I wanna help."

"Ditto," Luke said. "This is the first fun, legal thing we'll have done this year."

Danny raised an eyebrow. "What about the Avocado Incident?"

Luke paused. "Alright, that _was_ pretty fun," he admitted. "Although I'm not entirely sure it was legal."

"It was most definitely _not_ legal," Danny said. "We broke at least three laws. Minimum. But it was fun."

"It was fun," Luke agreed.

"Okay, moving on..." Jessica muttered, glancing from Danny to Luke. "Murdock is coming in on Friday of next week. So we have nine days, counting today, to gather as much information as we possibly can about this guy. Got it?"

"Got it," Danny and Luke responded simultaneously.

Jessica nodded. "Good. Let's get investigating."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i'm back

Jessica Jones was pissed.

" _Nothing_!" she growled, storming into Danny and Luke's dorm. "Absolutely nothing!"

Danny, who had looked up at the sound of the door slamming shut, tilted his head. "Nothing, what?"

"Information, probably," Luke told him, walking into the room with a beer. "I'm guessing the internet search wasn't revealing?"

"I thought I was supposed to be the detective here," Jessica sniped sarcastically. "No, it was not 'revealing'. This dude literally just _vanished_ from the face of the earth!"

"People don't just disappear," Danny said slowly. "Maybe you missed something?"

Luke winced. "You're gonna regret that."

"Wha—Hey!"

Danny yelped as Jessica grabbed the nearest item — a pencil case — and whipped it at him. The pencil case hit him in the forehead, leaving him groaning in pain and with what was sure to be a bruise the next day. "What the hell, Jess?"

"My aim is as good as my investigating skills," Jessica ground out. "Don't doubt my work again, asshole."

"Okay, jeez. Sorry," he muttered, and slouched down into the couch to protect himself from any further attacks.

Jessica crossed her arms and huffed. "Did you guys find anything?"

"So far? No." Luke took a sip of his beer and wiped his mouth. "We've been asking around, but nobody we've talked to knows anything. And if they do, they're not telling us."

Jessica collapsed on the couch next to Danny. "This is pointless. The guy's a _ghost_. I couldn't even find out his old address."

"Well, that seems a little creepy."

Jessica flipped him off.

"I guess we'll just have to wait and see," Danny commented, head flopping back lazily. "Who knows. Maybe he'll turn out to be super cool."

"Right," Luke drawled. "Because kids who have disappeared for over a decade and a half doing God knows what _always_ turn out to be perfectly sane."

"I'm just saying. Hell, he might even be like us!" Danny exclaimed, perking up at the idea.

Luke snorted. "What are you on, lithium?"

"Shut up! You don't know, maybe he has powers, too."

"No, seriously. What are you on?"

"Would you just—"

"Shut up!" Jessica demanded, and they instantly fell silent. Her gaze was locked on a newspaper spread out across the coffee table. She snatched it up and read the headline aloud: "'Daredevil: Friend or Foe? The latest news on the Devil of Hell's Kitchen.'"

She glanced up at the others. Luke was staring off, obviously lost in thought. Danny only watched her curiously.

"The Devil of Hell's Kitchen," she repeated slowly, lowering the newspaper. "He's still out there?"

"Apparently," Danny shrugged.

Jessica shook her head in disbelief. "How many new sightings?"

Luke seemed to snap back to the present. "Three," he answered promptly. "All of them claiming that he actually helped them."

"There are a few pictures," Danny offered. "But they're really blurry. This guy is doing his damnedest to stay out of the spotlight."

"I don't trust him," Jessica muttered, flipping through the paper. "Nobody ever does anything purely out of the goodness of their heart."

"We do," Danny said quietly. Luke tilted his head thoughtfully.

Jessica grunted. "Speak for yourself. I just like beating the shit out of annoying assholes."

"Maybe Daredevil does, too," Luke told her. "After all, what other reason would he have for helping people?"

"Why don't you ask him?" Jessica stopped flipping and squinted at one of the blurry pictures Danny had mentioned. "Are those... horns?"

Danny shrugged. "We've seen weirder."

Jessica paused. "Alright, you're right about that," she admitted, dropping the paper back on the table. "Still. I don't trust him."

"He's a hero."

"He's a _vigilante_ ," Jessica corrected, sitting down on the edge of the table. "He dresses up in a costume with horns and runs around beating people up at night."

"We run around beating people up at night," Luke said.

"Yeah. But he wears a costume."

"Jess."

"With _horns_."

"Maybe it's a kink?" Danny offered. Jessica gave him a look. "What? It's possible."

"It's probably armour," Luke interrupted before Jessica could smack Danny upside the head. "The guy takes down entire _drug_ _rings_ ; he's gonna need protection. It's not like he's bulletproof."

"Well, it's not like that's _completely_ off the table," Jessica grumbled, ignoring the way Luke rolled his eyes. "I don't know. I still don't like the idea of a super dangerous, highly trained vigilante running around the city while we're sleeping."

Danny hummed. "I dunno. It feels kinda nice to know that we're not the only ones out there, you know?"

"Not really," Luke said.

"Oh, for God's sake—it's not like he's part of the goddamn Illuminati."

"He could be."

"Right, and I'm the fucking queen of England."

Jessica gave them a weird look.

Luke sighed. "We should probably just move on."

"Good idea," Jessica muttered. "Alright... Matthew Murdock. Uh, just keep interviewing anybody you come across? Keep it casual, though. If somebody _does_ know something, they're not gonna just volunteer the information."

"Or," Danny suggested, "we could wait for this guy to actually start attending and just ask him ourselves?"

Jessica shot him a withering look.

He raised his hands defensively. "No? Okay. Just a suggestion."

Luke eyed Jessica warily and moved his own pencil case to the far side of the desk. "I dunno, Jess. I think Danny has a point there." At the glare she gave him, he shrugged. "I mean, think about it. If you want information, you should probably just ask the source of the questions himself."

"Did you not hear what I said?" Jessica snarled. "People don't just _volunteer_ information! There's nothing _anywhere_ on this guy—there's probably a reason for that. Whoever he is, he's gone through _a lot_ of trouble to hide where he's been for the past decade. There's no way in hell he'll just tell a bunch of random, nosy kids!"

"Okay," Danny interrupted. "Okay, Jess. We get it. We'll keep looking."

Jessica studied them suspiciously for a moment. "Okay," she said finally, gaze flicking between the two of them. "Alright. If you find anything—"

"We'll call you right away," Luke reassured her. "Promise."

" _Pinky_ promise," Danny added seriously, holding his pinky up.

Luke gave him a _'what-the-hell'_ look.

Jessica snorted. "Moron. I'll see you guys later."

"See you," Luke echoed as she walked out the door. Danny only waved his pinky.

As soon as the door shut behind her, Luke exhaled. He turned to Danny. "Well. We're gonna die, aren't we?"

"Oh, definitely," Danny agreed immediately. "She's not gonna find _anything_ , and trust me, she will be on a warpath."

"And we'll be stuck in the middle of it," Luke said glumly. "Great. I'll die as collateral damage."

"Isn't it great?" Danny asked cheerfully. "I can't wait to meet this guy. He's already managed to piss off _Jessica Jones,_ and he hasn't even met her yet!"

Luke shook his head and walked out of the room, tossing the now empty beer can in the garbage. "I'm not nearly drunk enough to deal with this shit."

"Are you grabbing another beer?" Danny called from the couch. "Can you get me one?"

"Get up off your lazy ass and get it yourself."

"Rude!"

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> surprise, I'm not dead

Danny frowned.

Danny looked at Luke.

Danny frowned again.

Luke crossed his arms. "Would you stop doing that?"

"I just don't think this is very orthodox," Danny said slowly.

Luke pinched the bridge of his nose, but his face flushed with embarrassment. Danny had a point – casually "chilling" outside the girl's restroom was probably not the best idea in the world.

Danny took his cap off. "We look like stalkers."

"We are stalkers," Luke told him. "For today, at least."

"There are other ways to talk to girls."

"This is the only way I know how," Luke said, "and it's always worked for me before."

Danny made a face. "Your tone is confident, but your words are sad."

"Shut up," Luke muttered.

"No, but, like, seriously. You take socially awkward to a _whole_ other level."

"I said _shut up_. Oh, hey!" Luke exclaimed, as the door opened and none other than Natasha Romanoff came strutting out of the washroom. "Natasha, right? Hi, I'm –"

"Luke Cage, I know. You're in my history class." She gave him a suspicious look. "What do you want? And... Why are you hanging out around the women's bathroom?"

Danny coughed something that sounded suspiciously like "stalker" into his fist.

Luke ignored him. "Right. Um, well, I was hoping to talk to you, actually –"

"So... you waited for me outside of the women's washroom?" she asked dryly. "What, is your laptop broken? There is such a thing as e-mail."

"I don't know your e-mail?"

"And yet you knew I was in the women's washroom at this exact time?"

"She's got you there," Danny pointed out helpfully.

Luke rolled his eyes. "Thanks for that," he muttered. Then he addressed Natasha: "I asked Clint where you were, and he said you'd gone to the washroom. I swear I'm not an actual stalker."

"That sounds like something an actual stalker would say."

Luke turned back to Danny. "A little help?"

Danny shrugged. "You dug your own grave."

Luke gave him a look.

Danny sighed. " _Fine_. We wanted to ask if you know anything about this new student coming in next week."

Natasha paused. "What's it to you?"

"Our lives," Danny muttered.

Natasha raised an eyebrow.

"Jessica," Luke said simply.

Natasha nodded. "Ah. Yeah, that sounds like her."

"So..." Danny prompted. "Do you... have any information that might contribute to us not getting torn to shreds by her?"

Natasha hesitated, looked around, then leaned in close. "I don't actually know much," she said in a low voice. "Pretty much nothing, actually. All I have is a name."

"Matthew Murdock?" Luke guessed.

Natasha inclined her head. "I really don't know anything. But... I know someone who does."

Danny raised his eyebrows. "Well?"

Natasha smirked. "Have you ever heard of Karen Page?"

-

"Karen Page?" Jessica echoed. "Like, the blonde who's friends with that Muddy guy?"

"Foggy," Danny corrected absentmindedly. "But yeah. What, have you never talked to her before?"

"I've talked to _Barrack Obama_ before," Jessica deadpanned. "So, yeah, I've _definitely_ talked to Karen Page."

Luke blinked. "Wait. You've _what_?"

"So, what's the problem, then?" Danny asked, tilting his head. "Since you're practically besties with her."

"Say ' _besties_ ' again, and I'll shoot you in the kneecap," Jessica told him. "Listen, I've talked with Page before. She's like a _vault_ , and trust me when I say that she's not giving anything up unless we've got a solid reason – which, obviously, we don't have."

Luke shook his head. "Well, that's what Natasha told us."

"Yeah, well, Natasha can go shove a cactus up her ass," Jessica snapped, "because her supposed ' _source_ ' is a dead end."

"Well then maybe we should just _wait for Matthew to arrive_ ," Danny said frustratedly, tugging at his hair. "Look, Jess, I know you like to know _everything_ about _everyone_ , but we've got nothing here! What's the point in continuing to snoop around if all we're going to find is a crap load of _nada_?"

"Maybe he's right, Jess," Luke added, before she could punch Danny in the face. "After all, Murdock's arriving in, what... a week?"

"Eight days," Danny corrected.

Luke stared at him. "You're really not helping yourself out."

Jessica glared at them. "I'm about a second away from making _you_ _guys_ disappear for a couple of decades."

Danny was quiet. "I think I'll just shut up now."

"You said it yourself," Luke continued, nodding to Jessica. "Page is a dead end. So where else are we going to find the information? I think it's safe to say we've checked everywhere."

"We haven't checked _everywh_ —"

"For god's sake—Jess, we've been over this. You're not hacking into the Pentagon."

Jessica scowled. "Party pooper."

"What now, then?" Danny asked, plopping down on the bleachers.

Luke sighed and took a seat next to him. "I dunno. Maybe we should —"

" _MATTHEW MURDOCK!_ HEY, MATT!"

The three vigilantes froze for a solid second as time seemed to stand still. Then Jessica whipped around so fast Luke was afraid she'd break her neck.

None other than Karen Page and Foggy Nelson were crossing the football field, practically sprinting towards a car that had just rolled up in the parking lot. The passenger seat's door swung open, and a man rose unsteadily to his feet. His shockingly bright orange hair was swept neatly aside. A pair of round, red tinted sunglasses sat on his nose, and in his right hand...

"Is that a walking cane?"

"He's _BLIND_?!" Jessica screeched, slamming her fist down on the spot next to Luke so hard it left a dent. Luke didn't even flinch, too focused on the laughing Matt Murdock who was greeting his friends warmly.

Luke whistled. "I didn't see _that_ coming."

Danny snickered. "Neither did Matt."

If looks could kill, Danny would be six feet under. He held his hands up defensively, as if that would shield him from Jessica's glare. "Sorry."

The driver's door opened, and from it emerged none other than Claire Temple, who smiled at the sight and then moved to give her own greetings.

Luke's jaw dropped. " _CLAIRE_?!"

Jessica whipped out her camera and quickly snapped a few photos, then stashed the device away with a shake of her head. "This is unbelievable."

"Better believe it," Danny muttered, watching as the four of them made their way across the field towards the dorms. "Our mystery man is _blind_."

"Wait, wait, wait." Luke turned to Jessica. "I thought you said that he was coming in next week?"

"He was _supposed_ to," Jessica said absentmindedly, slinging her bag over her shoulder. "I don't know why he's here a week early, but I'm gonna find out."

"Jessica, hold o— _dammit_."

"And there she goes," Danny drawled, staring after her as she jogged towards the little group. "Alright. I'm guessing we're going after her?"

Luke only gave him a look before starting after the P.I.

"Just another Thursday," Danny muttered to himself, then got up and hurried after the both of them.

"Hey, wait for me!"


End file.
